


Home Invasion

by Tay_21



Category: Primeval
Genre: Attempted Rape, F/M, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-26
Updated: 2012-08-27
Packaged: 2017-11-13 00:00:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/497133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tay_21/pseuds/Tay_21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Webster's Online Dictionary:  Home Invasion - Noun	1.	home invasion - burglary of a dwelling while the residents are at home.  </p><p>There's been a series of armed robberies in and around the estate where Connor and Abby now live with their two children.  Everyone in the area is on edge, Connor and Abby included.  Many of the robberies have ended badly for the families involved.  </p><p>One afternoon, Connor and Abby find themselves the target of this ring of violent criminals.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

> Webster's Online Dictionary: Home Invasion - Noun 1. home invasion - burglary of a dwelling while the residents are at home. 
> 
> Often characterized by extreme violence.

[](http://s1110.photobucket.com/albums/h445/narnia_maiden/Pics%20for%20Home%20Invasion%20Banner/?action=view&current=homeinvasionbanner.jpg)

Artwork by Evenstar_Estel on Live Journal

Home Invasion  


**PART I  
**  
Abby lay facedown hiding under the bed. Her heart was pounding rabbit fast. The three young thugs had barged into the house about fifteen minutes prior and had proceeded to ransack the house. She didn’t know where Connor was, but she knew they had caught him.

* * *

She had gone into the bedroom to change out of her dirty clothes from a day spent attempting to coax a herd of Deinonychus back through an anomaly. It had been a long and harrowing day with lots of injuries, but thankfully no deaths due to the specialized weaponry they used. She just wanted to relax with Connor in the few minutes she had before the kids got home. They had been home about fifteen minutes, and while she was changing Connor burst through the door and shut it behind him. 

“Connor…”

He grabbed her around the middle and pinned her to him clamping his hand over her mouth. That was when she heard it: the footsteps tramping up the stairs and the loud raucous voices.

“We know you’re in here. Come out, come out wherever you are. Come out and face us and you won’t get hurt. We don’t want any trouble, no cops, and no one gets hurt.”

“Quick, Abby, hide. They don’t know you’re here. They only saw me as I ran up the stairs.”

Abby started to shake her head. The footsteps were getting closer.

“Please, Abby, for once in your life will you do as I ask? I have to know that you’re safe.” His eyes were wide and desperate, pleading, willing her to obey him. She nodded. “Under the bed and stay there. I mean it. Don’t come out, no matter what happens, no matter what you hear.” She nodded again and he released her. She dived under the bed and scrambled all the way back up near the headboard. 

The door broke open with a force that knocked Connor to the floor. For one second their eyes met and then he got a boot in the face and screamed in pain. Abby watched helplessly as they beat and kicked him. They rolled him onto his front and used the telephone cord they had ripped out of the wall to bind his wrists to his ankles. He wasn’t screaming any more, and that worried her. She could hear his attackers calling instructions to one another. They told each other to search the rest of the house and take the valuables into the main room. One of them grabbed a pillow off the bed and stripped it of its case. He pulled the case over Connor’s head and tied it around his neck, blood already soaking through it. 

Abby was shaking with fear and anger. She had promised Connor she’d stay hidden, but he was hurt, he couldn’t fight back any more. He grunted as they pulled him from the room and back down the stairs, his head banging on every step as they went down. She felt hot tears leaking down her cheeks. She wiped at them angrily. 

“Hey, John, I think there may be someone else here. Come and have a look at this.” 

Abby’s blood ran cold. If they caught her now, Connor’s sacrifice would mean nothing. She glanced around the floor of the room from her hiding spot. She could just reach her bag. She searched for her mobile and almost giggled with joy when she found it. She dialed the police. Nothing. She hung up and tried again. Still nothing. Not even a dial tone. She started to shake again. 

“Wake up!” There was the loud crack of a resounding slap and a low moan from Connor. 

“Who else is here?” one of the other assailants demanded.

“Nobody,” Connor answered weakly. 

“Don’t lie to me. Everything in this flat is set up for a family of at least four. This is no bachelor pad. You’ve got a lot of electronic kit, but you’ve also got house plants, matching dishes and toys.”

There was a commotion, the sickening thud of boots landing against tender flesh, then Connor cried out again. 

“Who else is here?”

“No one, I swear.”

“Who else lives here then?”

“My wife.”

“Wife? Who is she?”

“Abby. Abby Temple. She’s away, with the kids, visiting her family. She’s really close to her mum, see?” Abby’s heart sank. Connor was a terrible liar.

“You’re lying.” 

There were the horrid sounds of another beating session. Abby didn’t know how much more of this she could take. 

She could hear Connor panting and whimpering, then, “No. I swear. There’s no one else here.”

There was another sickening thud and a snapping sound, followed by another scream of pain, then quiet whimpering. 

“Search the house again. Look everywhere. His little bitch is here somewhere and the kids might be home too. I don’t want any witnesses.” 

If Abby’s blood had run cold before, it was positively glacial now. Why couldn’t she reach anyone on the phone? 

“Abby. Aaaaaabby. Aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbyyyyyy.” One of the thugs was singing her name playfully as he started to come up the stairs. “Where you hiding? We will find you. You may as well come out now and face the music.” 

She had to think fast. 

The answer was staring her in the face. She grabbed the anomaly-opening device that Connor had brought home to work on. She secretly prayed he hadn’t really started to tinker with it yet and it was still working. It had fallen out of his bag onto the floor in the earlier struggle. 

She quickly programmed in what she hoped was a relatively safe era for opening an anomaly in her bedroom. It spun open just past the edge of the bed. 

“Abby, come out and play or Connor will get hurt even more.”

Abby was frozen with terror. The kids would be home any minute and she had no way of warning them. 

“Don’t think of using the phones, we’ve cut the wires and got a jammer to ensure that we’re not interrupted by the police during our time together.” 

So that’s how they’d done it. There had been a rash of armed robberies in their little neighborhood. That was why she and Connor had rushed home after their hard day; they didn’t want the kids to be home alone. She knew several of the robberies had ended violently, and she knew she should probably stay hidden. She just needed to buy some time. 

She could hear them throwing open closet doors and cabinets, pulling everything out and throwing it on the floor. She could hear glass shattering in the kitchen, drawers opening and being emptied onto the floor. All the while, the voice of the man singing her name got closer and closer. He was opening and closing doors, going from room to room in a very strategic manner. He’d be in her room any second. Apparently he was the only one really looking for her, the rest were enjoying trashing her home. 

“Abby, come out or I shoot Connor in the head and we find you and your your children anyway.”

 _Damn!_ Abby thought. She was now out of time. The stakes were too high and the balance of power had shifted with that very pragmatic threat. She crawled out from under the bed and with one last look at the swirling anomaly, opened the door and stepped out with her hands up. 

“Please. Please don’t shoot him. I’ll do whatever you want.” 

She glanced down the stairs and her heart almost stopped. Connor was lying on the floor, tied as she had seen earlier, but they had taken the pillowcase off his head. He was bloody and bruised and had a gun to his head. They had gagged him with some kind of cloth and he was staring up at her, eyes sad and terrified, and wide as saucers. He had a huge gash across the side of his forehead from which blood seeped, flowing down the side of his face, and pooling in a little puddle on the floor. He looked like he was in pain. 

Her stomach flipped at the sight of that much blood coming out of him and she thought she might vomit. She took a deep breath; she had to keep her wits about her. She turned and faced the man with the gun pointed at her only a few feet away. He must have been the one searching for her. She slowly descended the stairs until she was on the level with the invaders. She also noted, with another sickening twist in her gut, that Connor's left wrist seemed to be hanging limply at an odd angle; that must have been the snap she heard earlier. She also guessed that one of the thuds had been the sound of the butt of the man’s pistol impacting with the side of Connor’s head. 

“Where are your two lovely children? This beautiful boy and the darling little girl. Hmm?”

He pressed the gun against Connor’s head. Connor locked eyes with her for a moment. Abby had to think fast.

“They’re at my mother’s, please just take what you want and leave us alone.” 

“You know what is interesting about family photos? They are very telling, you know?” the man in charge asked. Abby was paralyzed with fear. He carried himself a bit like a cowboy out of the Wild West, definitely one of the bad ones though. She held her chin up defiantly, determined not to give anything away.

“What your family pictures are telling me… is that you are lying.” Abby’s eyes darted up to lock with his. He moved the gun from Connor’s head to his shoulder and pulled the trigger. The sound was deafening and she screamed in horror. Connor was screaming himself, but his gag kept him much quieter than he should have been. One of the other assailants came up behind her, grabbed a fist full of her hair, yanked her head back and clamped his hand over her mouth. She fought, struggled, and sobbed, trying desperately to get to Connor. He was panting again now, his eyes squeezed tightly shut against the pain. 

“Do I need to shoot him again for you to cooperate and tell me the truth? There is no one in any photo in this house that even remotely resembles a grandparent. Your choice, but keep struggling and he gets another bullet, maybe his knee this time?” He moved the gun until it was pointed at the side of Connor’s right knee. Abby stopped struggling, slumping against the arms of the man that had her pinned against him. He took his hand away from her mouth slowly. Abby pulled in deep shaking breaths. 

“Where are your children?”

“On their way home from school,” she said dejectedly, her voice waivering. “They should be home any minute now. They have after school classes that they attend so Connor and I can finish our shifts at work.”

“You work together, how quaint. What do you do?”

“We’re scientists. We work for the government in a research capacity.”

“Hear that, guys, we’re robbing a couple of government scientists, reckon they know any state secrets?” Abby was very glad that no one would believe her anyway, even if she told them the truth. 

“We don’t know any secrets, we’re just a couple of lab rats. Please. Please don’t hurt him any more. Take all you want, just leave my husband, my children and me alone.” The man behind her punched her in her right kidney. She cried out and involuntarily tried to twist away from him. 

The man holding Abby pulled her hair tighter towards him, “You should speak only when spoken too. I thought you government types were supposed to be all proper and well behaved.” His other hand slid up under her shirt and bra, fondling her roughly. 

Abby tried very hard not to cry. 

“That’s enough,” the leader with the gun on Connor called. “And what if I want you? You said to take what I want. Was that an invitation?”

Abby looked down at the floor, she knew this is what Connor had been afraid of from the moment they had kicked their way into the house. 

The cowboy leader laughed. “For now, tie her up and put her with her _husband_.” He sneered the last word. 

Abby didn’t fight as the man holding her bound her wrists behind her with a length of electrical cord. He forced her to her knees next to Connor. Connor looked back at her, pain and terror etched all over his pale drawn face. Sweat stood out on his forehead and trickled down his neck to mingle with the blood still seeping from his head wound. She tried to reassure him with her eyes. She couldn’t give anything away verbally. She prayed that someone would come and help very soon. She was desperate that any possible help would arrive before their kids got home. 

The man behind her shoved her to the ground and she fell heavily to the floor with a grunt. He bound her legs and then secured them to her wrists, tying her in the same manner as Connor. She looked up at the main robber; he seemed quite pleased with himself. 

“Please, just take what you want and go. Please go before my kids get home. Leave them out of it. Please.”

“I would very much like to meet your children. I especially want to know if the little girl is as lovely in person as her mother.” Abby saw the anger that flashed in Connor’s eyes. Despite all his pain, he was still trying to defend his little family. “And I want to know if your son is as stupidly brave as his silly father.” He tapped Connor’s wounded shoulder again with the gun, eliciting another agonized groan from Connor. 

“Please! Please stop! What do you want? I don’t understand.”

“I like to have fun, and what I find fun is… not very traditional.” He ran his hand down Abby’s spine and over her backside, bringing his palm back to rest on her arse. He rubbed lightly there. She didn’t dare give him the satisfaction of reacting. Connor had his eyes shut with pain again.

There was the sound of children’s laughter on the landing outside. Connor’s eyes snapped open. She could see the living nightmare he was in plain on his face. She was terrified that he might bleed out right here or have a heart attack from the shock and terror of what was happening to them. They couldn’t see the front door from their position on the floor. Abby’s eyes were wide and terrified.  


The main gunman put the gun to Connor’s head.  


“Not a peep,” he ordered Abby. 

What was she supposed to do, choose between her husband and her children? She was frozen in terror. She could scream for the kids to run and have Connor executed right in front of her, and in all likelihood her kids would be caught anyway, or she could lay here and be forced to watch her entire family be taken captive and possibly be brutalized by this pack of thugs. She was paralyzed with fear and in the end, did nothing. She couldn’t bear the thought, or the nightmarish images her mind conjured up, of this man blowing Connor’s head off. 

The kids came in all joyous and bouncy, laughing and chatting animatedly with each other, not having yet registered what was going on in the room. They couldn’t see their parents bound on the floor. They didn’t even realize there were bad people in their house; the robbers had concealed themselves behind the door. It wasn’t until the door closed shut behind them and they saw the blood on the floor that they stopped talking.  


They backed toward the door when the leader stood up and they saw the gun in his hand. “Ahh ahh ahh. Don’t move, kiddies, don’t scream or mummy and daddy might get hurt.”  


Confusion clearly bloomed across their little faces. Where were mummy and daddy? The leader grabbed Abby by her upper arm and wrenched her up so she could see them and they could see her. She cried out, but swallowed it down quickly to try and keep calm.  


“It’s OK, kids. Mummy’s fine. Be quiet, yeah?”  


“Mummy…”  


The men behind the door stepped forward and each of them seized one of the children. They started crying and thrashing about. The two men instinctively covered their mouths, which only served to make the eight and ten-year-old siblings panic even more. 

“Nick, Sarah, please. Please, babies, don’t struggle. They won’t hurt you, it’s going to be OK,” Abby lied. She was much better at it then Connor. Nick the oldest looked at her with tears in his eyes and terror on his face. He had asthma like Connor had had when he was a boy. She knew if he kept panicking it could morph into a full-blown attack. He locked eyes with her and nodded. “Deep breaths, OK, Nicky?”

She turned her attention briefly to the leader who still held a gun to her. “Please, Nick has asthma, don’t cover his mouth. He has trouble breathing and something like this could kill him. Please, tell your men to back off. They’re just kids for God’s sake. They’re afraid.” She returned her attention to her petrified children. “Sarah, mummy’s right here, darling. Stop struggling and they won’t hurt you. Please, for me.” 

Abby’s calm, gentle tone worked on pacifying her children. She just needed a little more time. Surely, someone at the ARC would have noticed the anomaly by now? Surely there would be a team on the way to investigate? Surely they would have noticed it was at their house? 

The leader nodded as the kids stopped fighting and his men took their hands away from the children’s mouths. Nick sucked in air and Abby paled a little at the alarming wheeze coming from him. 

“Mummy, what’s happening? Where’s Daddy?” Sarah sobbed. 

“Daddy’s laying right down here next to me. It’s OK.” Abby turned and addressed the leader. “Please,” she whispered quietly. “Please let me go to them. You have my husband hostage; I’ll not do anything to jeopardize his or my kids’ lives. Please let me calm them down, Nick’s going to need an emergency dose of his medicine. Can’t you hear what he sounds like? Please?”

She watched as the other two men quickly bound their small hands behind them, this time with a roll of duct tape they had found in the kitchen. Sarah started to cry again and then they both started and cried out as a subsequent loop of the tape pulled at their skin as it was pulled tighter. Once they were bound, they dragged them over to where she and Connor were. 

Their panicked voices rose in pitch as they saw their daddy bound, bloody and pale. He was shaking now; Abby knew he was going into shock. She didn’t have much time. 

“Daddy, daddy,” their little voices called from the chairs they were sat in. 

“Daddy’s fine kids, just look at mummy, yeah? He’ll be OK.” God she hoped he would be OK. She didn’t know how she would manage if he wasn’t OK, or worse, if she lost him. She saw him open his eyes and take in the scene, his children crying, afraid and terrorized. She saw the look of hopelessness come into his eyes and then they closed and a single tear slipped down his cheek. He slumped and she knew he had past out. 

“Please, let me get Nick his medicine.” She couldn’t move them on Connor’s behalf, but maybe they would be more compassionate to the needs of a child. She had to try. 

To her utter amazement, he nodded and untied her. He sat on the couch next to Connor and aimed the gun at him again. She nodded, acknowledging his unspoken threat. One of the others accompanied her to the kitchen as she fumbled in the medicine cabinet they had there. Finally she found Nick’s medicine. She tried to think quickly about what she could do for Connor. _Not much_ she told herself sarcastically. Blankets, she needed blankets, if she could keep him warm, maybe that would stop his system shutting down. 

She turned around to look at her escort. “I need to get some blankets. Please?” He shrugged and to Abby his expression seemed to say, _You’ll all be dead soon anyway, so what do I care._

Abby quickly made her way to the cupboard in the hall and grabbed two big blankets. She set them down next to Connor. His breathing was very shallow and labored, and he’d lost a lot of blood. 

_One thing at a time_ , she reminded herself. She went over to Nick and knelt down in front of him. 

“You remember those breathing techniques that we talked about?” Nick nodded. “Good boy, I want you try them right now, OK?” Another nod. He was having a lot of trouble breathing already. His terror filled eyes flitted in Connor’s direction and then back to Abby. He had deep-brown expression-filled eyes just like his daddy. In fact, he was the spitting image of Connor. “Don’t worry about daddy right now, I need you to focus on breathing, OK? She held the fast-acting inhaler up to his lips and pressed the button for him. “One, two, three, four, five. Hold it, hold it, hold it. Good job, Nick. One more pump, OK?” He let out his breath and nodded again. “That’s my boy. OK, here we go.” She held the inhaler to his lips, again pressed the button and counted out the seconds he needed to inhale. “One, two, three, four, five. Good. Hold it, hold it, hold it. OK.” He breathed out shakily and almost immediately started to cry. Her heart broke for him. He was so like Connor and she hated to see him this scared. 

“Hey, Nicky, Nicky, calm down, OK? Can you be strong for Mummy? Or better yet, can you be strong for Daddy? He needs you to be strong for him, OK?”

“What’s wrong with him, Mum?” he asked shakily. 

“He’s just a little hurt right now; he’ll be OK, but I need you to be strong so that when these men leave, I can help Daddy. You understand?” He sniffed then nodded. “Good lad, you sit here and keep an eye on your baby sister, yeah? You take care of her so I can take care of Daddy?”  


Again, he nodded.  


She turned her attention to Sarah. If Nick was all Connor, then Sarah was all Abby. Blonde, confident, and never afraid of a challenge, but she was also her daddy’s princess, and like Abby, seeing her dad in pain and afraid, twisted something inside her. _No eight-year-old should have to try that hard to rein in their emotions_ , Abby thought. Sarah wasn’t sobbing; she just sitting there, eyes wide open, taking in everything with big silent tears running down her cheeks from her clear blue eyes. 

“Sweetheart, I know you’re afraid, but daddy’s going to be fine. I promise. OK?” 

Sarah looked into her mum’s eyes and Abby saw Connor’s look of utter hopelessness reflected there. Sarah was clearly absolutely terrified that she was going to lose her dad right there in their living room. 

“He’s not going anywhere, he’ll be OK,” Abby said to reassure Sarah, as much as herself. Sarah nodded weakly and Abby knew she didn’t believe her. _Damn if that girl didn’t see right through her sometimes._

_God, someone has to be coming here to check on them soon. How long had it been?_ She glanced at the clock on the wall. _DAMN! Had it really only been a half an hour since they had barged into their little home?_ Abby was panicking again. She knew it could take them upwards of an hour to suit up and get to a site sometimes. She had to hope that since it would register as their address, that they would hurry. _Please hurry; Connor may not have much time_ , she silently prayed. 

She turned back to the leader; he had an amused look on his face that made Abby want to hit him. She deliberately walked back towards him and picked up the blankets. He gave no objection as she laid them over Connor, first one and then the other; she tucked them in around his too-still form and then gently pushed the damp sweaty hair from his brow. 

“Connor, please wake up. Please?”

“That’s enough of that.” The leader barked. “Take her into the master bedroom. I think we’ve been more than generous, and have earned ourselves a little reward, don’t you boys think so?” 

The two others snickered lewdly and one of them, the youngest and most enthusiastic, aside from the leader, grabbed her arms and began to tie them behind her again.

“Don’t please, please. Don’t take me from my kids.”

“Well, I suppose we could do this right here.” He grabbed a fist full of her hair and dropped her to her knees in front of him. “You’ve been awfully talkative lately, so I think I’d like to see what else that mouth of yours can do. And before you get any ideas, let me remind you who is in control.” He savagely kicked Connor again in the ribs and there was no mistaking the sickening snap of bone. Connor started coughing with each painful intake of breath. 

“I can do that all night, until there is nothing left to break, and then I can start on your kids. Do you understand?” Abby nodded and couldn’t stop the tears that began trickling down her cheek. 

“I won’t fight, just, please, don’t hurt him any more. And could you turn my kids around. I don’t want them to have to see this. Please, I’ll do whatever you want, just please don’t take any more of their innocence than you already have.”

The man was smiling the most wicked smile Abby had ever seen and the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. She shivered. 

“I don’t know about that. Seems like the little one is a tiny version of you. I bet she needs to learn how to properly take care of a man.” Abby’s eyes widened and she caught a small bit of movement on the floor as Connor showed some signs of life, no doubt from that last brutal kick. His eyes fluttered open and she saw the heat of anger there. Fear rolled over her anew though as she saw the blood infusing the gag from inside his mouth. She knew it had nothing to do with a split lip. 

“No, please, she’s only eight-years-old. Please?”

“Well, I wouldn’t want people to think I’m completely heartless.” He turned slightly to face his men as he began to lower the zip on his trousers. “Turn the little brats around. They can listen in as we have some adult playtime with _mummy_.” 

Abby narrowed her eyes at him, but looked away when he reached down into his trousers. She tried to avert her eyes; she couldn’t believe this was happening. _Where was the ARC team?_

There was a knock at the door. Abby’s heart skipped a beat. 

“Abby, Connor? Are you there? Is everything all right?” Becker. 

Everyone froze. The leader turned the gun back towards Connor. “Who is it?” he asked in a tiny whisper. 

“A friend from work. He stops buy sometimes to visit and bring things over for the kids.” 

“Abby, Connor, open up if you’re in there. I have to talk to you. There’s something you need to know, if you don’t already.”

“What’s he on about?” the leader hissed.

“No idea, maybe he’s finally got engaged, he’s been seeing this other girl from our office.”

“I don’t care. Get rid of him or I’ll kill him too.”

“Open up guys or I’m going to have to force my way in.”

“Seems a bit intrusive.”

“He’s just like that sometimes.” 

He pulled Abby up and untied her wrists. “Deal with it, and no funny business.” Abby nodded somberly and stepped toward the door on shaky legs. 

She opened the door a few mere centimeters. “I’m sorry, Becker, this really isn’t a good time. Can you come back later?”

“Is everything all right, Abby? You look you’ve seen a ghost.”

“It’s fine, you just really need to come back at another time.”

“You have an anomaly in your second floor bedroom. Are you aware of that?”

“We do? Um, no, I didn’t know, it’s probably just Connor fiddling around with some piece of tech or something. You know him.”

“I have to check it out, open the door, Abby.”

“Please, Becker.” She looked at him eyes pleading and full of meaning, willing him to understand that they were in danger. “Please come back later.” 

Something clicked between them and she saw Becker’s expression turn from confusion to one of dawning comprehension. 

“All right, Abby. If you insist, we’ll talk about it tomorrow at work. Jess says hi by the way.” 

“OK, tell her I said hi back. See you tomorrow.”

“Yes, sorry to have bothered you this evening.”

Abby closed the door and turned back to face her captors. 

“Very well done, Abby. Now what was all that nonsense about anomalies?”

“Well…” Abby thought quickly, “That’s what we call Connor. An anomaly. He’s a genius, see, and so he has some odd routines at work, and he’s a bit… quirky.”

“Right, well, I hope for your sake you’re not lying again. We wouldn’t want a repeat of what happened earlier now would we?” 

“No, please. That’s not necessary, I’m cooperating. Please. ” Abby begged quietly. Connor had his eyes shut again, and there was more blood on the gag than there was before. This was bad. His breathing had begun to rattle a little. 

“Now, where were we? Oh yes, adult play time.” He spun the chord they had used to tie her wrists with around with one hand while he crooked his finger at her with the other. Abby slowly made her way back over to him. “You might want to hurry or I might just get a little trigger happy with your husband here.” 

Abby hurriedly knelt down in front of the leader. His dropped his hand back down and snaked it into his trousers while one of the others bound her wrists behind her once again.

Before he could do anything more, there was a loud bang accompanied by a bright flash. The door burst open and smoke filled the living room of their small home. Abby was knocked to the floor as she heard several gunshots go off. She started inching her way over towards her children, struggling to stay down and not get up and run. That would almost guarantee she’d get shot. She had to get to her children, but she was torn. She thought her heart was going to stop because she knew that at least one of those shots had come from where the leader had been standing with the gun trained on Connor. She also knew that there were guns aimed at Nicky and Sarah and she was determined to get between those barrels and her babies, even if it was the last thing she did. One of the men, she didn’t know who, tripped over her and in the process she caught her head on the edge of the coffee table. Everything went black and her children were screaming. 


	2. PART II

Artwork by Evenstar_Estel on Live Journal

**PART II**

Abby knelt in the cold, wet grass staring at the frozen headstone.

“We miss you, you know? Sometimes we seem so lost without you. I’m going to have another baby. I only just found out. After, well, after everything that’s happened in this last crazy week. I was at the hospital and they were explaining everything to me, and telling me what was going to happen. My whole family was spread out and being attended to by doctors. I didn’t know what to do and it was all too much. I passed out. When I came to, they asked if I could be pregnant. I told them I wasn’t sure, that it was possible, but it had been so long since I was pregnant. Can you believe it? After all this time, after all these horrible events, we’re going to have another kid. They gave me the test, and it came back positive. I wish you were here. I could really use your guidance right now. You always seemed so guided by your principles. I always respected that. I miss you.”

Abby wiped at her eyes, and stood up to leave. 

“I have to get back to the hospital now, the kids will be coming home and Connor, well, he hasn’t woken up yet, but I’m hopeful. Put in a good word for us yeah? Tell Stephen and Sarah we said hello. I miss them too. You know you were the closest thing to a real dad I ever had. I don’t know if I ever told you that, so there you go. Thanks for that. I’ll try to bring Connor back when he gets better.” 

Abby rested her hand on the cold granite of Nick Cutter’s gravestone. Then she turned and limped back to her car. She had to be at the hospital very soon. She had spent the better part of the last two weeks there. Both her children had sustained injuries that required extended stays in the hospital and Connor had nearly died, in fact, he still wasn’t out of the woods yet. He was in a medically induced coma. 

She had come to the graveyard because she knew it always made Connor feel better when he could come here and talk things out with Nick. She thought she’d give it a try. She had felt silly at first, and then as she had spoken all of her fears to the empty, quiet space in front of her, it had helped. Things didn’t feel like they were pressing down on her so much now. She put the car in gear and drove to the hospital, it was barely past dawn and she didn’t want to be away any longer than necessary.

* * *

TWO WEEKS EARLIER

* * *

Abby’s eyes fluttered open slowly. Her head was pounding. There was a flurry of activity and shouting all around her. The only voice she could for sure pick out was Becker.

“…not breathing, get the medic over here NOW! No, get them secured and move them to the side, we deal with the Temples first. They can wait.”

Becker’s face swam into Abby’s field of vision. Everything looked blurry.

“Connor?” she asked weakly. 

Becker shook his head. “He’s having a rough go at the moment, we’re doing all we can, but you need to worry about you right now. Connor’s a fighter. He’ll make it.” Abby’s heart threatened to stop beating. She felt like she’d been punched in the stomach. 

“Abby the medics are on their way, I’ve got one team already here, but they are dealing with Connor.”

“The kids, where are my kids? Where are Nick and Sarah?”

“They’re both stable for now, the ARC medics have stopped the bleeding and have them on oxygen, they’ll need some medical attention, but they’ll be fine, Abby.”

“Stopped the bleeding?” Abby was frantic. “Becker, what happened to my children? Where are they? Tell me the truth. I’m their mother. I have a right to know.”

Becker’s face became even grimmer. “Nicky had a really bad asthma attack and those… men tried to shoot them. Sarah leaned over in front of her brother and tried to block the shot, it went through her though and into Nick. Honestly, that’s sounds worse than it is. They’re going to be fine. I promise. Matt’s with them now whilst they wait for the ambulances to get here.”

Abby felt the world swimming around her again. She tried to sit up, but Becker pushed her back down. 

“Becker, let me up; I need to see my family. Please.”

“No, Abby, you’ve been hit as well, and until I know the extent of the damage, you’re not going anywhere.”

“What do you mean I’ve been hit? I feel fine, OW!”

“I told you.”

Abby looked down at herself. There was blood all down her shirt and more blood coming out of a small hole in the lower half of her trouser leg. Her jeans were already soaked through with blood. She had cried out when Becker had resumed applying pressure to her leg. 

“Where did the rest of this blood come from?”

“Your head. Took me a while to realize it wasn’t a bullet wound, but just a gash on your head from the table. I only worked that out after I got the bleeding to stop. Now be still so I can assess this wound.” 

Tears ran down Abby’s cheeks, both from the pain and the stress of worrying that she was about to lose everything. A few minutes later and the paramedics arrived. Connor was in very bad shape. The medics attended to him first and got him into the first ambulance with out even talking to Abby. Becker kept her pinned to the ground the whole time. 

In the end the medics had to sedate Abby. They didn’t knock her out completely; they just injected her with something that would calm her down. Abby’s wound was a through and through. No bullet was actually in her leg, and it didn’t appear to have hit the bone or anything. She would need stitches and antibiotics, and she’d be very sore, but the medics did not think her injuries were life threatening. Nevertheless, she was bundled into an ambulance herself under orders that she get an x-ray and a CAT scan for her head injury. 

Her children had both been injured in the gunfire. Sarah had an abdominal wound where the bullet had gone through her and lodged in her brother. Nick had the bullet wound and complications with his asthma. They were both sent to the hospital via ambulance as well. 

Upon arrival, Abby was assessed and it was determined that her injuries were non-life threatening, the worst being the bullet wound in her leg. Before she went in for the x-ray, they asked her if she could be pregnant, she told them no, and then when they asked how she could be certain, she didn’t have a good answer. 

They erred on the side of caution and made her wear a large lead apron. After she was finished in both the x-ray department and with the CAT scan, she demanded to know what was happening to her family. Becker was a godsend and used his military dominance to get the ball rolling to find out what was going on with the rest of the Temples. Finally a doctor came in to talk to Abby. 

“I’m Dr. Petros, Your family has been through quite an ordeal.”

Abby stared back at the older man as if he were a complete idiot. As if she needed to be reminded of how she and her entire family had ended up here. Sensing this, Dr. Petros wisely moved on.

“Just give it to me straight. I can handle it and I **need** to know exactly what has happened to my family. Don’t sugar coat it. I know Connor’s the worst so that leaves me as the only adult able to care for and make decisions for my family. I **have** to be completely informed. Please, Dr, Petros. I’m not a china doll. I’m not going to break. I’ve had enough of people putting me off today.” Abby was determined to know the truth of her family’s situation. She wouldn’t let them ignore her any longer. 

Dr. Petros sighed. “Well, I guess I should just give it to you straight then. Are you sure you want to hear it all?” 

Abby nodded in response and set her jaw. She had to know. There was no other choice. 

“OK.” The doctor continued. “Your husband sustained three gunshot wounds, a fractured skull and shattered cheekbone, multiple broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken leg and a fractured wrist, as well as going into shock due to stress and loss of blood. His gunshot wounds were to the shoulder, back, and lower torso. It looks as if his assailants not only kicked, beat, and shot him, but stamped on him also. Frankly he was lucky to reach us alive, and we are trying our hardest to keep him that way, but we are fighting an uphill battle. I’m sorry, but the best thing I can tell you is that it is going to be a wait and see case. He’s in surgery right now, so I will do my best to keep you informed as soon as we hear anything from the operating team.” 

Abby stifled a sob, but let the tears flow. Becker kept his arm around her. He was closer to her now than her own brother. He was family, and she was glad of his presence. 

“And the kids,” Becker prompted.

“Your children will be fine, Mrs. Temple, though they both will need to be here a while longer. You will only need to stay overnight. Sarah is in surgery right now to fix the damage to her liver from the bullet and Nick is in surgery to remove the bullet fragment from his lower intestine. We also have to keep a close eye on him for complications with his asthma. Do you understand what I’ve said to you?”

Abby’s nodded as her head began to swim again and the faces of Becker and the doctor blurred. The edges of her vision turned black and then caved in on top of her. 

Abby awoke back in a hospital bed a few minutes later. The doctor and Becker were starring anxiously down at her.

“Abby? Abby, are you OK?” Becker asked. 

“Mrs. Temple, is there any chance you could be pregnant?” The doctor was now looking up from her chart. 

“Yes… No… I don’t know. I suppose I could be, but I’m not sure. We haven’t tried to get pregnant, but we haven’t been super careful either. We thought we were past babies, you know, what with an eight and a ten-year-old” Abby wiped her eyes. Becker handed her a tissue from the bedside table. 

A nurse joined the doctor and he told her to draw some more blood, and to run a pregnancy test. She did her work quickly while Abby watched, her eyes slightly unfocused. 

She looked up at Becker. “I can’t do this without him.” Abby descended into sobs again. 

Becker sat next to her and put his arms around her. “He’s a tough guy, tougher than we all give him credit for. You know that. Connor will pull through. I know it. If you are pregnant, you need to tell him. He’s going to need all the good news he can get.”

Abby nodded and blew her nose. 

“You need to calm down and rest, Abby. If you are pregnant, please, think of the baby. Rest, OK?” 

“The kids…”

“Are still in surgery, there is nothing you can do right now. Let the doctors take care of you. Let them give you something to rest.”

The nurse returned and talked in low tones with the doctor. 

She came over to Abby. “I think your friend is right. Let’s give you something to help you rest.”

Abby nodded. The nurse calmly injected a clear liquid into Abby’s IV. She hadn’t even noticed that she’d been hooked back up to an IV. She felt the cold tingly feeling creep up her arm and then everything went fuzzy. 

The next morning, when Abby awoke, the doctor came in and gave her the news. She was indeed pregnant. She was dumbfounded, happy and terrified all at the same time. What if Connor didn’t pull through? How would she manage three kids on her own? 

“Where are my kids, how are they?” 

“Your kids are fine, and your friend should be back soon and he can take you to see them.” 

As if on cue, Becker came through the door with two steaming cups of coffee in his hand. He held one out to Abby. 

“I hope that’s decaf,” she said smiling weakly at him. 

He looked slightly taken aback for a moment, then the penny dropped. “Uh, no. So this means you’re…” Abby nodded. Becker set the cups down. “Oh, that’s wonderful. Connor will be so happy.” Becker leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. 

“Does that mean he’s awake?”

Becker glanced sideways at the doctor. 

“No, Mrs. Temple, he’s not awake. I’m sorry. We’ve had to induce a coma. His brain was swelling and he took a minor turn for the worse last night. Like I told you before, time will tell. His surgery went well, but he’ll probably need a few more operations to repair all the damage that was done to him. Don’t lose heart though. Your friend says Connor’s a fighter.”

“He is.” Abby took a deep breath. “Can I make the rounds to go see my family now?” 

“Absolutely, we’ll get you a cup of decaf coffee, or maybe some herbal tea on the way to the children’s ward.” 

“No, I want to see Connor first. I need to see him. I want to do that before I see the kids. That way I can have something to tell them about their father.”

“All right, let's get you into a wheelchair.” Becker helped Abby get settled. They bid the doctor good-bye for now and he wheeled her out of the room. 

It wasn’t a long trek up to Connor’s room, Abby was glad of that. Nothing, however, could have prepared her for the sight that met her eye when she entered his room. His eyes were closed, and he was on a respirator. There were tubes and wires attached all over his body. Abby didn’t know where it would be safe to touch him. He had a cast on his arm and another on his leg. There were bandages everywhere. Even his head was wrapped in bandages. 

“Oh, Connor.” Abby laid her head on the cast on Connor’s arm. She didn’t sob, she just let the tears slide down her cheeks. She moved her head to lay it gently on his chest. She needed to hear his heartbeat, not a machine beeping in time with his heartbeat, but his real, living heartbeat. After she was reassured that he was alive, however frail and fragile that hold on life might be, she lifted her head and gently kissed the tip of his nose. It looked like the only part of him that might not hurt, but she couldn’t be sure. She distinctly remembered them kicking him in the face. Her heart broke as she tried to push those horrible memories aside and focus on Connor now. 

“Hey, Conn. I’ve missed you these last few hours. So much has happened that I have to tell you.”

She watched his face eagerly for any kind of reaction, but so far there was nothing. She bit back a quiet sob and took a deep breath. She had to tell him. 

“Connor, we’re going to have another baby. Can you believe it? I only found out this morning. Connor, the kids are going to be OK. I’m going to be OK. We’re going to have another baby, and they’re going to be OK. All we’re missing is you. You have to get better so we can be a whole family. We’re not whole without you. Please, Connor. Please be OK. All right. Please, just get better and come back to me OK. You can’t leave me. Not now. Not like this. Please, Conn. I love you, and I desperately need you. I’m sorry if I don’t tell you often enough. I love you. I love you. “ 

The doctor came in to see if Abby needed anything. 

“How long is he going to be…?”

“It’ll depend a lot on him. He’s in a coma now so that his body can heal without any added stress. He’s got a machine breathing for him so his lungs can heal. I know it looks bad, but if he makes it through the next week, I have high hopes for him. But, it’s going to be a long week, maybe two. There’s just going to be a lot of watching and waiting. I’m sorry that I don’t have a better answer for you. Hopefully the coma, will a severe step will do what it’s supposed to do and give him the time that his body needs.”

Abby nodded her acknowledgement. She didn’t trust herself to speak. 

Becker peeked around the doorway where he had been politely waiting outside the room. 

“Do you want to stay, or do you want to go to see the kids now? We can come back later, right, doctor?”

“Yes, of course, I think having you here will motivate him to get better. At least that’s my hope.”

Abby turned away from looking at his too-pale, bruised face. “Yeah, OK, let’s go see the kids and then I’ll come back.”

“I can stay with the kids later if you want to spend some more time with him after your visit, and I think Lester was going to stop by. You know what a big softy he is under all that sarcasm.”

Abby laughed a little at that. Lester had indeed proved to be a big softy. She had caught him on more than one occasion playing with her kids and their toys, making baby voices and all when the kids were younger. He never missed one of her kids’ birthdays, and in the last few years that had even extended to her and Connor. 

Abby settled herself back into her wheelchair and Becker headed for the elevator that would take them down to the children’s ward. Abby rested her head on her hands and began to sob.

* * *

Abby’s children were resting comfortably. They were going to need a lot of therapy, and Nick would need regular nebulizer breathing treatments for the next week. The bullet had passed through Sarah's liver and shattered one of her ribs, but her surgery had been a success. They had reconstructed the rib and repaired the damage to her liver. If all went according to plan, then she would heal up perfectly fine. The bullet, after passing through Sarah, had lodged just passed the muscle wall of Nick’s abdomen in his lower intestine. The doctors had had no difficulty removing the damaged bullet from him and repairing the wound to his intestine. It had been dicey for a moment there, because intestinal wounds could be tricky, but, it seemed as though Nicky had almost quite literally dodged a bullet. Both of them, Nick because of his abdomen and Sarah because of her more major bullet wound, would require about a week’s stay in the hospital. 

The doctors now wanted Abby to stay for two more days to keep an eye on her leg and make sure the baby had not been adversely affected by the stress of the last 36 hours. 

Becker pulled up a chair next to her after wheeling her into the narrow space between the beds of her two children. 

“They always look so peaceful when they’re sleeping, don’t they?” he asked. 

Abby nodded. “I almost lost them. Why would those people do this to us?”

“We questioned them yesterday before turning them over to the police. It seems they were thrill seekers whose preferred form of adrenaline and gratification came from terrorizing people in their own homes. The three of them seemed to be real nasty pieces of work. I would have preferred to handle them in house, but Lester was adamant that all their victims see justice. Two of the other families that they terrorized have already come down to the station and identified them as their attackers, and there are still at least four other families that the police want to come and have a look at them. They’ve killed four people in their exploits, a little boy, both his parents, and a father of four who lived less than a mile from you and Connor. They should be going away for a long time.”

“I can’t imagine what they were thinking. I mean what kind of person has no problem executing a child and his parents, or getting off on brutalizing a family? Becker, if you hadn’t knocked on that door when you did, things would have been a whole lot worse. They tried to…” Abby couldn’t finish her sentence. Her cheeks reddened and she felt the hot tears stinging her eyes again. “They were going to…” She just couldn’t. She saw Becker grip the arms of his chair very hard. His knuckles were white against the dark wood. 

“Abby, I’m so sorry I didn’t get there sooner. We thought Connor was just messing about with some piece of tech. I didn’t hurry. I’m truly sorry about that. I know I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. I’m going to try and make it up to you, to both of you, to your whole family. I mean, God, if any of you had been killed…” Becker trailed off and took a deep breath to regain his composure. “Connor’s one of my best friends, you’re like a little sister to me. I love your kids like they were my own. I’m getting to be an old bachelor soldier. Your family is the closest thing I have to an actual family. Things might be looking up with Jess, but ever since Sarah, I just can’t put myself out there. When I saw that look in your eyes, it reminded me of Sarah right before she…” He stood up and walked over to Sarah’s bed. He gently pushed the little girl’s hair back off her forehead. He bent down and kissed her forehead so much more gently than Abby would have believed possible from the soldier. 

“I miss her. I miss her so much. I love that you honored her by naming your daughter after her. She’s very like Sarah, because she’s very like you. She’s little, but she’s strong. She’s feisty and yet once you win her trust you have it completely.”

"Don't miss her so much that you miss what's in front of you right now. You and Jess are good together. How long are you going to hold her at arms length while trying to keep her close? Don't you find it exhausting. Sarah would have wanted you to be happy. Don't wait too long. Life is too short, Becker."

Becker nodded and then he turned around and stepped to the side of Nick’s bed. “He’s so like his father, this one. He invokes every protective instinct in everyone he comes into contact with, and yet he’s very brave and stronger than others give him credit for. He’s got your tenacity for protecting others though, even when it’s not in his best interest. I’ve seen him do it.” 

Abby joined him at her son’s bedside, leaning up and standing on one leg, carefully keeping her weight off the injured one. “He is a pretty amazing kid, isn’t he?”

“They both are.”

“Yes. Connor says they both remind him so much of me, but all I see is him when I look at them.” 

Nick’s eyes fluttered just like Connor’s when he was trying to wake up and his chocolate brown eyes, so like Connor’s as well, slowly, sleepily, opened. 

“Mummy, what’s going on? Where’s Daddy, why’s Uncle Becker here? Why does my throat hurt? Where am I?”

Abby smiled, he was going to be OK, a little rough around the edges, and raspy sounding, but he was already talking a mile a minute, just like Connor. 

“We’re in hospital, do you remember anything from yesterday, baby?”

Nick’s eyes got very wide as sudden remembrance crashed over him. 

“Daddy! Where’s Daddy?” He tried to sit up and cried out in pain as he jostled the stitches on his abdomen. Abby pushed him back down.

“Daddy’s resting just like Sarah, see?” She indicated Sarah in the next bed over with a nod of her head.

“I want to see him. Please? Why isn’t he here too?” 

Abby thought her heart would break all over again. These two were so alike. 

“You can’t see him right now, baby. He’s going to be OK. He’s just going to be sleeping and resting a lot right now, maybe for a while. He’s been hurt pretty badly, and he needs time. OK? He’s going to be all right.” She could see his breathing begin to grow more difficult as worry and fear set in. “Nick, please, I need you to be strong for me. Can you do that? Can you be strong for mummy and daddy? For Sarah? I’m going to have to spend a lot of time with Daddy while he gets better and that means that I won’t be able to be here with the two of you as much as I would like. I need you to stay calm and work on breathing deeply. I need you to keep an eye on Sarah and watch over her. Can you do that?” 

Nick took as deep and stable a breath as his weakened lungs would allow and nodded his head. “Is Sarah going to be OK?”

“Yes, sweetheart, Sarah’s going to be just fine. She’s just resting too. She’ll probably be awake in a little while. Do you want anything?”

“Ice cream would be nice.”

“Ice cream, you are your father’s child. You know he asks for the same thing every time he’s sick?”

Nick smiled up at her. He seemed to be calming and his breathing wasn’t so labored now. 

“There’s someone else here who wants to say hi.”

Abby motioned Becker over from where he had retreated. 

“Uncle Becs!”

“Shhh,” Becker chided lightly. “You don’t want to wake your sister, now do you?” 

Nick shook his head. “How long are you staying?” 

“As long as you need me, buddy. Today, I am at your service.” He did a quick flourish of a bow to theatrically show his sincerity. Nick was instantly grinning from ear to ear and almost bouncing with delight. 

Abby leaned over and kissed the top of her son’s head. “Keep Uncle Becker out of trouble, yeah?” He laughed and nodded his agreement. She looked over to Becker and mouthed her thanks to him and sat back down gingerly in the wheel chair. She wheeled herself out to the hall and then got a hospital worker to assist her back down to Connor’s room. 

Connor was much the same as he had been earlier. The machine was still breathing for him and he was still completely unresponsive. She leaned forward and rested her head on the pillow next to his. Abby reached up and gently ran her fingers through the little bit of Connor’s hair that she could actually touch. She let the tears silently fall down her cheeks. She kept her hand on his head; she just needed the connection. She needed to know he was there, alive and warm, even if his body was so horribly broken.


	3. Part III

Artwork by Evenstar_Estel on Live Journal

**PART III**

Abby woke with a start. She didn’t know how long she had been dosing, but the light in the room had changed. It wasn’t quite as bright as it had been and her body felt sore and stiff from sleeping in such an odd position. She stretched as a nurse came in to check Connor’s vitals. 

“‘ello, love, did you sleep well? The doctor came in a while back and found you ‘ere. ‘e said it was best for you if we left you alone as much as possible. ‘owever, Mr Temple is due for another CAT scan that simply can’t wait any longer.”

Abby nodded. “Can I wait here for him to come back? Oh and what time is it?”

“Yes, you can wait ‘ere, it’s about five in the evening.”

“Five, really? Oh, I need to check on my kids.”

“Will you be back tonight, deary?”

“Yeah, they’re just downstairs and a family friend is watching them.”

“In the waiting room are they?”

“No, the children’s ward. Both my children where shot in the same robbery as me and my husband. My son also has severe asthma.”

“Oh dear me, that’s ‘orrible. I ‘eard about that armed robbery on the news. I didn’t know that was you and ‘im? Poor things. I’ll try to ‘ave ‘im back as quick as a flash for you then. ‘e’ll be OK. Poor lad just needs to ‘eal that’s all. ‘is vitals are really strong you know. Good ‘eart on this one.” The kind old nurse patted Connor’s non-injured leg gently. 

Abby groaned as she straightened up in her wheel chair and stretched again. She leaned forward and kissed Connor lightly on the cheek. “Be back in a bit, OK? I’ll miss you.” 

Abby turned back to the nurse. “Would you mind getting someone that can help get me to my kids’ rooms and back, please?”

“Certainly, deary. I’ll just be one sec’.”

She left the room and pretty true to her word returned shortly with a hospital volunteer who wheeled Abby down to her children’s room. 

Abby couldn’t help smiling at the sight that greeted her upon being wheeled into the doorway. Becker was sat at the foot of Sarah’s bed. He was in the process of telling her a very animated story. Both children were listening with rapt attention. She was relieved to see Lester sitting at the foot of Nick’s bed and chiming in with his own details. Becker was a great storyteller. He did all the voices and everything. Abby recognized the basic tenets of the events surrounding the British Museum anomaly. There were a few changes however. The British Museum had, of coarse, become a castle, the Pristichampsus had become a dragon intent on hunting down the fair maiden, who’s name was Sarah. Sarah would eventually out wit the vile dragon through cunning and quick thinking. The warriors Sir Becker, Sir Connor, and Sir Nick the Younger always aided her. All was done in the service of King Lester for the benefit of the entire kingdom. Abby swore Lester’s eyes sparkled a little too much when Becker referred to ‘King’ Lester in the story. It made her smile even bigger. Though it also made her miss Sarah. That was a loss that had hit them all hard, Becker most of all. 

“Ah, Abby, you’re awake. So nice to see you’ve had a little rest,” Lester commented in his ever increasingly dry tones. “How’s Connor getting on this evening?” 

That man never missed anything, Abby thought. 

“He’s much the same, still…” Abby glanced at Nick whose smile had faded a little and he was no longer listening to Becker, all his attention was focused on his mum and what she was saying about his dad. “Still sleeping. They’ve taken him for another CAT scan to make sure things are progressing the way they want it too.” 

Abby motioned for Lester to join her outside. She turned the wheel chair around and headed back into the hallway after casting Becker an apologetic look. 

Lester followed her out into the hall. 

“I went by to see you earlier, but you were sound asleep, so I left you and gave Becker a bit of relief with the kids.”  
“Thank you. It means so much to me that you’re here.”  
“You and Connor are like family, you know that. Ever since you were missing, and Philip Burton bought his way in. Anyway, you take all the time you need, I’ll make sure things are covered at the ARC. You and your family need to make sure that you heal properly. In fact, I don’t want you back at work for at least three weeks, maybe longer. You can manage that can’t you, Mrs. Temple?” He quirked an eyebrow at her. Abby smirked sheepishly, in the last several years, much of Connor had rubbed off on her and she now had a tendency to act a little rashly when it came to protecting her own. 

“Yes, sir. I promise I’ll be smart about it. Family first and all that.” 

“I understand your little family is about to be one bigger? Might I offer my congratulations? Again, please keep things like this in mind when you are making decisions. If you two weren’t already off field duty, I’d pull you off it myself. I had no idea you even wanted more children.”

“Neither did we. It wasn’t planned, it just kind of happened. I didn’t even find out until yesterday. And yes, congratulations would be much appreciated. Thank you.” 

Lester reached over and gave her one-armed hug. “Just make sure that you all come back safely. Tend to Connor and see the children when you can. We’ll make sure someone is here to look out for them. They’ll be fine.” With that he wheeled Abby back into the room, calling, “Don’t forget to report to the king. Reports to the king are the most important part of the story. It makes sure things are handled correctly.”

“Oh, of course. The warriors would never forget to give all of their findings to the king,” Becker replied, judiciously hiding his own smirk behind a grave face.

Abby smiled and wheeled in between the beds of her children. Sarah was getting sleepy, but she had to ask her mother a question. 

“Mummy, where’s Daddy. Why hasn’t he been to see us like you have?”

“Daddy’s very tired. He’s sleeping, and he’s probably going to be sleeping for a very long time. Those men that hurt you hurt him too, but he’ll be OK. He just can’t come to see you right now. Now I think its time for you two to get some rest. Uncle Becker and Uncle Lester have worn you both out and I don’t want you to get sick here in hospital. Now lay back, both of you. Uncle Becker can finish his story later.”

“Your mother’s right. We’re at a nice stopping point anyway.”

“Sing for us Mummy?” Nick asked quietly. He had been very subdued since she had told him that his dad was still sleeping. 

“Absolutely, so long as you promise to shut your eyes and not talk.” Both Nick and Sarah complied and Abby’s beautiful voice filled the room. 

“Running up the stairs with mum and a teddy-bear, it’s nine o’clock brush your teeth and say your prayers. Close your eyes and count the sheep jumping over the moon, and I’ll close mine and then I’ll dream of you. ‘Cause I do love you, tomorrow we’ll go to the park, and visit at the zoo, but ‘til the night is through, I’ll dream of you.” 

It was one of their favorite lullabies that she sang to them. Even Abby found it calming. She couldn’t remember where she had learned it, but it was a beautiful song. She loved to sing it and her kids loved to hear it. She had rocked them to sleep since infants whilst singing that song. 

As she sang both of the children quietly dropped off to sleep. She kissed both of them on their foreheads and then bade Lester and Becker good night as well. She thanked them and then was wheeled out of the room by another volunteer. 

Connor was back in his room by the time she got there. While she was waiting on the results of his CAT scan, she told him about the kids’ day with Becker and Lester. She told him how supportive Lester had been, and then she just sat there staring at his beautiful, yet battered face. She loved him so much. He was still beautiful, even like this. 

Dr. Petros found her a little while later. He had the results of the CAT scan. Overall, Connor was healing well, but there was still some swelling on his brain that they were concerned about. There was no sign of infection with any of his numerous wounds, so that was a plus. Dr. Petros said that they would just keep an eye on him until the swelling started to really go down. Connor would remain in his medically induced coma until then, at the very earliest. 

Abby nodded her understanding to the doctor; she didn’t trust herself to speak. When he asked if she had any more questions before he left she simply shook her head. What was there to say? They were already doing all they could. The news of the violent break in and the family that had all been injured was making the rounds at the hospital. Most of them were incredibly sympathetic to Abby. Who wouldn’t be though? The story was harrowing and heartbreaking. Abby knew they would do just about anything to make sure Connor pulled through. 

Abby nodded again and managed to get out a thank you before Dr. Petros left the room. Abby rolled over to Connor’s bedside. If there weren’t so many wires everywhere she would have considered crawling into the bed with him. There was a small couch over in the corner of the room away from all the machines. She turned the chair around and rolled over to it. Stiffly she climbed out of the chair and transferred herself on one leg to the couch. She was asleep almost as soon as she closed her eyes. Yes, it was still early by normal standards, but the last few days had been completely exhausting.


	4. Part IV

Artwork by Evenstar_Estel on Live Journal

**PART IV**

Life continued much the same for the next week. Sarah grew stronger everyday, and Nick was able to get his asthma back under control. And Connor was still unconscious. Abby didn’t know how she was going to manage everything once the kids were discharged. The only plus to Connor still being in a coma was that his body was healing very well. It had taken two more days for the swelling on his brain to finally go down. Even then he still didn’t wake up. The doctors told her it was normal. His body was repairing itself and needed time and energy. She never thought she would miss his big beautiful brown eyes so much. She longed for him to wake up, but she didn’t want to push him and threaten his recovery. 

She was torn. The kids would be coming home tomorrow, and Connor was not waking up. She stayed with him and talked to him about all the goings on, and about how the kids were. Both the kids were beyond ready to be back home. 

Abby had been home once, since the break in. Becker and his men had cleaned the place up. The flat smelled heavily of bleach. She guessed that’s what they had used to clean up all the blood. There were three dents in the floor, and Abby knew those were the impact marks where the bullets had gone through Connor’s body. She didn’t know if she could stay in this house without him. Would she have nightmares? Would the kids have nightmares? She hoped not, but there was nothing for it. She had nowhere else to go. She started to get angry with herself. This was her home, damn it! Her home with Connor! They had built their life in this little house and she had loved it. She’d be damned if those thugs were going to take that from her. Abby determined in that moment that she would make it work. She would. Connor wouldn’t be gone for forever, he was coming home. He’d need a proper home to come to that was for sure.

* * *

The kids were coming home today. 

Abby smiled down at Connor. “Morning, love. I went to talk to Cutter today. I always thought you were a little daft for talking to the air like that, but I should have known. You were right, Cutter is a great sounding board for whatever is ailing you. You’ve simply got to get better and wake up. The kids are being released today, and I won’t be able to be here with you as much as I have. Lester and Becker will still be trading off shifts watching the kids, and one of them is going to take them on the weekends. You know how much Lester misses having kids in his house now that his are all grown up. So, whenever I can get someone to watch them, I’ll be here, OK. The hospital even got me a beeper in case you wake up while I’m away. I really hope I’m here, though.” She slipped her hand into his and gave his fingers a squeeze.  
Abby jumped at the sensation she experienced next. Connor had been completely unresponsive for over a week now. But when she squeezed his fingers, he squeezed back, albeit faintly.  
Abby almost did a Connor style squeak as she grabbed his fingers again and gave them another squeeze. She watched as his fingers moved and tightened fractionally around hers. She lifted his fingers to her lips and kissed them. “I’ll be right back.” She ran from the room to get a nurse. 

There was a flurry of activity all around Connor’s bed and Abby was pushed aside. The doctors ran every test possible and even wheeled Connor out of the room to run some brain scans. 

Two hours later the doctors were cautiously optimistic. He wasn’t responsive, per se, but it was progress. Almost every time Abby or any of the hospital staff asked for him to squeeze their hands, he would. He never opened his eyes, but he would turn his head towards Abby any time she talked to him.

* * *

It was be two more weeks before Connor had another break through.

Abby had come into see him before heading off to work. She begged him to open his eyes, but he didn’t do anything but raise his eyebrows at her like normal. She was just going to have to be patient. 

“I have to go to the ARC, Connor. I’ll be back this afternoon, OK?” Connor’s eyebrows knitted together. That was new, he was unhappy that she was leaving him? “Connor, if you’ll open your eyes for me, darling, I’ll stay. Do you want me to stay, love? Hmm? Open your eyes and I’ll stay, sweetheart.” She leaned forward and kissed his forehead. When she pulled back to look at his pale face once more his beautiful brown eyes were blinking up at her. 

“Connor! Oh, Connor, are you awake? Can you hear me? Speak to me, Conn.”  
“Abby, wh—why? Why are crying? Where am I? What happened?” His voice was scratchy and low. He’d only been off the ventilator and breathing on his own for about the last ten days or so. 

Abby didn’t know how much to tell him. At least he knew who she was. “What’s the last thing you remember, Conn?”

He’d shut his eyes again, but he would open them and look at her every couple of seconds. 

“We were at the ARC. You wanted to get home early, before the kids arrived. You didn’t want them to be home by themselves. There’d been break-ins.” It took him a long time to say all of this, his speech was halting and a little slurred. “What’s happened? Please tell me.”

He turned his big puppy eyes on her and she melted; it was always so hard to deny him anything when he gave her that look. 

“There was a break-in at our house, Conn. I was upstairs changing and they forced their way into the house. They threatened you and held me and the kids hostage while they trashed the house, piling everything up that they wanted to take. You got shot several times and almost didn’t survive. You’ve been in a coma for weeks now while your body repaired itself. 

Connor’s eyes were wide and panicked. “The… the kids? Where are the kids?”

“The kids are fine. They both had a little stay in hospital, but they’re fine and already home. Jenny’s been watching them for me and alternating with Lester, Becker, and Matt. I’ll tell you all about what happened later, OK. Let me get the doctor.” Abby kissed his chapped lips and left to fetch the doctor. 

Connor had lots of visitors over the next few days in hospital. Lester came by to tell him the ADD needed servicing and that he didn’t expect him to be lying around for much longer, he had work to do. Becker came by with Jess. Connor had to stifle a laugh when Jess took Hilary’s hand, which made him start blushing like a schoolgirl. Even Matt and Emily came by to wish him well. 

The sweetest visit of all came two days after he’d woken up. Abby decided the kids could not be kept at bay any longer. She cleared the room of everyone and brought the children in to see their father for the first time in more than a month. She had prepared them before hand. 

“Daddy’s very sick still. He’s very weak and you have to be very gentle with him, OK, my loves?” They had nodded their heads somberly and were unusually quiet as they entered the room. 

“Hey, guys. Are you two a sight for sore eyes,” Connor called from his bed. 

“Is something wrong with your eyes, Daddy?” Nicky asked. 

“No, sweetheart. No, Daddy’s eyes are just fine. Come here. Let me get a better look at you both.” They approached the bed cautiously. “Oh, my angels, you’ve got so big. I swear you’ve both at least grown a whole inch. Come on, sit next to Daddy.” 

Abby helped the two children sit on either side of Connor. 

“We were so scared, Daddy. You were hurt real bad and they were yelling. The gunshots were really loud. Then you wouldn’t wake up. Uncle Becker’s really great, but we missed you a lot,” Sarah said, leaning over, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face against his uninjured shoulder. 

Nicky didn’t want to be left out so he did the same, his head resting on Connor’s wounded shoulder. 

Connor winced but did his best to hide it. Instead, he did his best to wrap his arms around his two children. He kissed the tops of their heads and when Abby moved to pull Nicky off his shoulder he shook his head at her. He let the tears trickle down his cheeks as he breathed his children in. He touched their hair; he kissed their cheeks; he held them as close to him as he possibly could.

“Oh, I missed you both so much. Do you know what?” he asked, looking in to both their upturned faces. They shook their heads. “I was scared too. I thought I was going to loose you both. I thought I was going to loose your mum also.”

“Mummy was awesome. She was really brave,” Sarah put in. “She got Nick his medicine and made sure we were OK all while we were in the hospital. Daddy, I don’t like you not being at home. When are you coming home?” 

Connor reached up and wiped his tears. “Soon, baby girl. Soon. I just have some things to do here first.”

“Can’t you do them faster?” Nicky asked looking up into his Daddy’s eyes. 

“I’m trying to, mate. I’m trying.” 

“Daddy’s working really hard to come home kids, really, really hard. He’ll be home before you know it. I promise.” They both looked from Abby to Connor. He shook his head at them affirming what their mum had just said. 

“That’s good, because neither Uncle Becker or Uncle Lester can get the voices right in the story,” Nicky complained. 

“What story, Nicky?” Connor asked.

“They’ve been reading through The Hobbit again. They know it’s one of Daddy’s favorite books, and it was a way for them to feel close to you while you were here,” Abby answered. 

“Well, we’ll be sure and finish it with the correct voices just as soon as I get home. And then maybe I think you two are ready for the rest of the story now.”

Sarah looked up in surprise. “You mean, you’re finally going to read The Lord of the Rings to us. You said we weren’t old enough, that it was too scary.”

“Well, I think we can get past that now, don’t you? Plus, it always helps to read stories where the good guys win, yeah?”

They both nodded energetically. 

“All right, kids. I think that’s enough, Daddy needs his rest.”

“Aww, come on, Abby. Let them stay a little longer. Please, love? I can handle it.” 

Abby, never could resist those puppy eyes of his. She nodded. “Just a little while longer. Connor, you’ve got a physiotherapy appointment in one hour. At which point, children, you are going home to Aunt Jess. I’ll be along later to check on you this afternoon. That’s the plan, everyone. No complaining.”

“Yes, Mum,” Connor agreed playfully. 

Abby smiled at him and kissed the top of his head. “I thought you could use the incentive to keep working just as hard as you have been.” She nodded pointedly at the children. 

“You’re brilliant, you know that.”

“Yeah, I do. But you can keep telling me anyway.”

“You’re brilliant Mummy,” Nicky cheered.

“Yeah, brilliant, Mummy,” Sarah agreed. 

The four of them spent the next hour laughing and catching up on what had happened over the last few weeks. They even took a bit of time to compare scars. Connor and Abby kissed their children’s scars and each other’s.

* * *

Connor woke with a start. He’d had another nightmare. He’d been having them regularly for a few nights now. His children screaming, Abby crying, pain shooting through his body, the leering faces of the men who tormented his family. The events never connected and on waking he couldn’t string the events of reality together properly. It bothered him that he couldn’t accurately remember what happened. The nights when Abby was there with him were better, but some nights she was at Jess’s with the kids. Tonight though, thankfully, she was right there when he woke up, stroking his face and hair, kissing him tenderly and telling him it was just a dream. 

He pulled her close to him and inhaled her sent deeply. “I’m so sorry,” he breathed into her ear.

“Whatever for, love?”

“For not being able to protect you and the kids. I’m weak and I couldn’t even defend my own home.”

“Connor, stop it. You are not weak. You’re incredibly strong. You’re a fighter. Those men were thugs and even Becker would have been hard pressed to do anything differently.”

“Yes, but I’m **supposed** to protect you. The kids were screaming. I couldn’t even look up at them. I couldn’t make them feel safe. I couldn’t tell them, ‘don’t worry Daddy’s going to make it be OK.’ What does that say about me, as a man, as a father? That I did a pretty lousy job on both fronts that’s what.”

“Connor Temple, you stop that right now. You are the best husband a woman could ever have. You’re the best Dad our children could have. Look at how you responded to the burglars in the first place-”

“But that’s just it. I can’t remember half of what happened. Everything is all jumbled up and out of order. I can’t put it together-”

Abby took Connor’s face in her hands and put a finger over his lips. “Then let me tell you what you did. When the men came into our house, without any thought to your own safety, you rushed up the stairs to where you knew I was and you made sure I was safe.”

“Fat lot of good that did me.”

Abby put her hand over his mouth and continued as if he hadn’t interrupted her. “You endured a brutal beating all the while refusing to tell them where your wife was. You bought us valuable time. They beat you, bound and gagged you, and you still struggled when they threatened me and later the children. Even after you were shot you still found the strength to do that.” He started to try to talk again, but Abby held her hand in place and pressed down a little harder. “You fought for us in the only way you could in that situation. You survived.” She kissed his forehead. “The doctors weren’t sure you’d pull through, but you beat the odds. That was you, Connor. Your every thought during the whole ordeal was not for yourself, but for your family. I wouldn’t want anyone else but you. You gave us a fighting chance. I love you; the children need you. They love you too, but they desperately need you, more than they even know.” She pulled her hand away from his mouth. “Lesser men would have given up and died, but you fought. Don’t you dare start doubting yourself now. Not after all we’ve been through. You have another child to raise and I’ll not be doing it on my own. So, snap out of it.”

“Are you done? Can I talk now?”

“Only if what you are going to say is worth saying, otherwise I might have to gag you myself until you get the message.” Abby saw the thrill run through him in a visible shiver. His face flushed and she knew he wanted her very badly in that moment. 

“Abby Temple, I love you. You’re my perfect match. Thank you. I needed to hear that. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you or the children. I was terrified for you all. In my nightmares, even though everything is all mixed up, that’s the overriding emotion. I’m terrified they’re going to hurt you. I’m afraid I’m going to see my family murdered right in front of me and I can’t do a damn thing to protect any of you.”

“You living protects us. We’re safe, all of us. Our family survived a devastating event. We can’t wait for you to come home so that we can all be whole again.”

“Home, me own bed, with you in it of course. I can’t wait for that.”

“Good, that needs to be your motivation then.” She guided his hand up to her breast. “When you get frustrated, just remember that these are waiting for you along with the rest of me, because, obviously, we can’t do it here. It’ll be your reward for all your hard work.” 

“God, Abby, you’re killing me here.” 

Abby kissed him deeply and then sat back in the chair. She took his hand in hers and smiled again. “Go back to sleep, Connor. You need your rest.”

“Can’t you at least sleep here with me?”

“In this tiny bed?”

Connor turned the full power of his puppy dog eyes on her, which never failed to send a thrill to send a thrill through Abby’s insides. She could never deny him when he did that. It was a dirty trick and he knew it. “Please?” he asked quietly.  
“Yeah, all right.” She moved the wires that were still attached to him over to the other side of the bed and then crawled in next to him on the opposite side. The nurses found them like this both sound asleep an hour later.


	5. Part V

Artwork by Evenstar_Estel on Live Journal

**PART V**

Things moved miraculously quickly after that. Connor made swift progress and the doctors told Abby he should be ready to go home after two more weeks. This was nowhere near fast enough for Connor though. Those two weeks in the hospital were frustrating. Connor was going to have to relearn how to walk and he’d need to work with a speech therapist to get back to normal. He got cross and impatient with his physiotherapist on a regular basis. He wanted to be at the same physical level he’d been at, but that was going to take a lot of hard work and patience, patience that Connor did not have. Had Abby not been there to calm him down he probably would have given up out of sheer frustration. She was his rock. She kept him grounded and motivated. 

Two weeks after his first visit with his children, still in a wheelchair, but making good progress, Connor finally arrived back at his home. Becker, Jess, Matt, and even Lester had all chipped in to help get the little house ready for him. It was clean, and repairs from the burglary had been made. 

After all their friends and well-wishers had come by, Abby and Connor sat on the couch simply enjoying the moment. Connor had walked a little bit that day and he was slowly getting stronger, walking a bit more from one day to the next. The kids had had an eventful day and were asleep in their parent’s arms, not wanting to be very far from daddy for even a minute. Abby was definitely showing now; Connor lay against her, his hand on her baby bump. 

“I really did think I was a goner when he shot me that first time. I still don’t remember much after than. Little flashes, that’s about it. I was terrified when the kids came home.”

“I thought I’d lost you when I heard the other gun shots. There was so much blood. And then, when I found out I was pregnant... I was terrified. Not because I was going to have another baby, but because I thought I’d have to do it without you.”

“I would have hated to miss this.” He leaned forward and kissed her tummy.

“What are we going to name her, or him?”

“I think it’s going to be a boy. Just my gut feeling. I say we name him Thomas, after your old friend. We'll call him Tom. You were good mates to each other weren’t you?” Abby asked. 

“We were. Hmmm. Thomas Becker? Seems like he deserves it?”

“He does, doesn’t he?”

Nick yawned and buried his face in Connor’s shirt. It was well passed their bedtime. Abby reached over and stroked his hair. “I’ll get them into bed.” She stood up, kissed Connor’s forehead and then helped guide a very sleepy Sarah up to bed. 

Connor leaned down and kissed the top of his son’s head. “I love you, buddy.” He held him close and pressed his cheek to the boy’s hair. When Abby came down a few minutes later in order to take Nicky up to bed, he stirred and held on tighter to Connor’s shirt. 

“No, Daddy, I want to stay with you.” 

“It’s all right, Nick, I’ll be here in the morning when you wake up.” He hugged him tight. “I promise. I’m home for good now, OK?”

“OK, Daddy. I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.” He ruffled Nicky’s hair before handing him off to Abby. 

Connor waited on the couch for her to come back down. He missed not getting to kiss his children good night in their beds. 

Abby returned a few minutes later to help get Connor into bed. “You going to tuck me in?” he asked cheekily as she helped him walk the short distance to the guest room that would serve as their bedroom until Connor was strong enough to walk up the stairs. 

“Thinking about it. You’d like that wouldn’t you?”

“God, yes.”

Abby helped to get him undress and into his pyjama pants. She lay down next to him resting her head over his heart. Her hands ghosted over the new skin on his gunshot wounds. They were still slightly scabbed. 

“Come here,” he said pulling her into the circle of his arms and molding her to him so that they both lay on their sides. He ran his hands down the curve of her side, over her hip and then back up and over her growing baby bump. He kissed the back of her neck. “I missed this.” He continued to kiss and nuzzle her gently on the back of her neck. She reached up and placed her hand on his cheek. When they fell asleep, they both were smiling peacefully. The Temple family was home safe and whole once more and would soon be one bigger.


	6. Epilogue

Artwork by Evenstar_Estel on Live Journal

**EPILOGUE**

Connor’s phone beeped. He picked it up and glanced down at who was calling. It had been a little over a year since Connor had first come home. Abby sat on the couch across the room still trying to teach his older two children how to properly hold the bottle and the baby at the same time. The three of them were laughing and smiling; happy. He was happy. He only hoped this phone call wouldn’t change any of that. 

“Hello?” Connor asked cautiously. “Well, Becker, what is it? What’s happened?” 

Today was the day that the verdict was to come in on their attackers trial. They would have been there but it was Sarah’s birthday and Abby didn’t want the day to be marred in any way for her little girl. 

“Connor, it’s in. Guilty on all counts. They’ll never get out of prison. The judge elected to go ahead and sentence them due to the severity of their crimes. All three of them received life sentences, with a recommended minimum term of 30 years,” Becker informed. 

Connor pulled the phone away from his ear for a moment and took a deep breath. It was over. It was really over. Those men would never be able to terrorize his family or any other family ever again. 

“Connor, Connor, are you there? Did you hear me?”

“Yeah… Yeah, I heard you Becker. Thank you. It’s great news. Thanks.” 

“Go and tell Abby the good news, yeah.”

“I will. Thanks mate.”

“Oh, and tell Sarah happy birthday from Uncle Becs.”

“All right, will do. Why don’t you stop by when you’re done with everything else?”

“I might. If I do, can I bring a guest?”

“Hillary Becker you sly dog, you. You’ve finally stopped dancing around with Jess after all this time?”

“Might’ve. I’ll see you lot later, all right.” 

Connor laughed. “All right, see you later.” He clicked off the call and looked over at his family. He felt the weight of the world fall off his shoulders. They were safe. Really safe. 

He met Abby’s eyes. “Is everything all right?” she asked. “Who was that?”

“Everything’s fine.” He walked over and kissed the top of her head. She looked up at him. “That was Becker.” A look of understanding passed between them. “Everything’s great.” He nodded at her and she nodded back understanding his meaning. She smiled. Connor saw the same weight that had been on his shoulders lift off of her also. He looked down at Sarah who was feeding baby Tom. “Can I see him? I think you have some presents to open.” He raised his eyebrow and nodded toward the table that was piled up with presents. 

“Yes!” she squealed. Connor scooped up Tom from her arms without even jostling the bottle as Sarah up and ran to the presents with her brother on her heels.

“Oh and Uncle Becker says happy birthday and that he’ll be over later on.”

“Sweet!” shouted Nick, pumping his fist in the air. 

“Oi, one at a time, love,” Abby called. 

“All right, Mummy,” agreed Sarah.

“And save Uncle Becker’s present for when he gets here later. That way he won’t feel like he’s missed everything. 

Becker’s present was one of the biggest one’s on the table. “Oh, all right,” Sarah said, a little disappointed. 

Connor cradled his son while he finished feeding him. Abby curled up next to him and placed her hand over his. Together they watched their excited children rifle through and shred the wrapping on all but the largest of Sarah’s presents. They reveled in their excited squeals and their laughter at the kids’ easy banter. It was music to their ears. Connor kissed his baby’s forehead again as the child finished his meal and curled into his chest. Abby took him from Connor and started to pat his back in order to burp him. She leaned back against Connor and he wrapped his arms around both of them. 

He nuzzled the back of her ear and kissed the soft skin there. “I love you,” he whispered into her ear. 

She laid her head back against him completely, turned towards him and he closed the distance between them, kissing her sweetly. “I love you too.” 

It was perfect, as it should be.


End file.
